Archive for category: Donors

Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam today earned the 2019 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information.

By sharing metrics that highlight the progress Habitat is making toward our mission, we are giving our donors the best possible means of evaluating how their donations are being used.

“In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work,” said Shawn Means, “we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. We can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters, donors, peers, and the media.”

A Message from Shawn Means, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam:

Thanks in part to the presence of the Teays Valley ReStore, Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam has made significant strides toward better serving Putnam County over the past two years after a long period of dormancy in the County. Since building our latest Putnam County house in Hurricane in 2014, our efforts to provide Putnam County families with homeownership opportunities had slowed dramatically because of the availability of affordable land on which to build. With decreased building activity came decreased visibility and community awareness, and so the number of people who applied for Habitat’s housing program also declined. The opening of the Teays Valley ReStore two years ago has helped Habitat regain the community awareness and has helped us reconnect with potential applications and donors. The results are tangible

Applications to Habitat’s homeownership program from Putnam County residents has increased by approximately 30% in the past two years.

Shortly after the Teays Valley ReStore opened – no doubt in part because of the increased visibility that the ReStore provides — a Putnam County land owner donated a building lot in the Scott Depot area that will be the home of a Habitat homebuyer in the near future.

Because of this renewed interest, Habitat is currently seeking funding for the preliminary design work on a new development near Bancroft that might provide building sites for as many as 18 single family homes, providing much needed workforce housing to the area north of the Kanawha River.

In 2017 Habitat held its first Putnam-centric fundraising event in over 20 years. The “Building Habitat’s Future” luncheon at Sleepy Hollow raised more than $15,000.

In addition to raising funds for home construction, the Teays Valley ReStore is an important outpost for Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam, providing it with a vital connection to the community.

We are thankful to the ReStore team, shoppers and donors who have helped make these first two years a tremendous success.

The Kanawha Valley Board of Realtors Donates $1,000 and dozens of volunteers to help Habitat wrap up its 2018 construction season.

Over two dozen members of the Kanawha Valley Board of Realtors are working with Habitat for Humanity right now to get the inside of a new home ready for a local homebuyer. The volunteers are installing drywall along North Hills Drive in Charleston. This is the third year that the Board has partnered with Habitat and made a sizable donation to purchase construction materials.

The Kanawha Valley Board of Realtors is a local real estate trade association which represents hundreds of local Realtors, appraisers and affiliate members throughout the Kanawha Valley. KVBR provides leadership for the Realtor community by protecting the interests of its members, promoting their value to the real estate consumer, setting its members to the highest standards of professionalism and advocating private property rights.

Ann Boggs, Executive Vice President of the Kanawha Valley Board of Realtors, encourages Board members to participate annually in projects that help the community. Habitat for Humanity’s Development Director, William Andreas, has worked with the Board for years to help its members get involved. “The mission of Habitat isn’t just to build houses, it’s to build relationships and offer members of the community a meaningful way to give back and get involved,” Andreas says.

The Grainger Foundation donates $5,000 to help a Habitat Homebuyer build their future home.

The Grainger Foundation has awarded Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam with a $5,000 check to be used on the construction of a new home on North Hills Drive in Charleston. The Foundation has also partnered with Habitat to become a sponsor for Habitat’s upcoming fundraising event, “Building Habitat’s Future.” That event will take place at Edgewood Country Club on November 8.

This new house being built will benefit a local community member who successfully completes the partnership program required by Habitat for Humanity. In addition to a down payment and zero-interest monthly mortgage payments, Habitat Homebuyers invest hundreds of hours of his or her own labor in building their house and the houses of others. In addition to investing his or her “sweat equity,” the local person selected for this home will also fulfill other requirements, including completion of Habitat’s Master Homeowner Program.

The Grainger Foundation and Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam have a solid, long-standing relationship. The Foundation has made monetary donations to Habitat in the past, and Grainer also acts as a vendor for some of Habitat’s construction supplies.

Grainger’s Managers, Contact Center Directors and other upper management work to identify charitable organizations in their local communities and make grant recommendations to The Grainger Foundation ranging from $2,500 up to $10,000. As a result of recommendations submitted throughout 2017, The Grainger Foundation made nearly 900 grants totaling $5.8 million to a wide variety of organizations in the areas of health and human services, food banks, civic, disaster relief, and education.

The Grainger Foundation, an independent private foundation, was established in 1949 by William W. Grainger, the Company’s founder.

Service Wire Co. is working with Habitat for Humanity to fulfill the vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Since 1988, Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam has been helping provide people with safe and affordable homes. To date, 171 homes have been built with the support of an extensive network of volunteers, contributors and full-time employees. Service Wire is now proud to be among those contributors.

In 2015, Ron Gibson, Service Wire’s Purchasing & Logistics Manager, represented Service Wire as a volunteer on a Habitat build with a group of local industry leaders. Afterward, Louis Weisberg, President of Service Wire, increased the Company’s support by donating wire the company had manufactured. Since then, when a build begins, Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam contacts Service Wire for their wire needs.

“Once we get the request, it’s a group effort. Everyone pitches in to help make it happen,” says Ron. “Engineering determines the wire needed, sales does the paperwork, distribution sends the wire and the credit office and accounting take care of the donation.”

Most recently, Service Wire donated wire for three homes in Kanawha County, West Virginia, about 25 miles from their Culloden facility. Constructed on 50 acres of donated property, there are 12 houses – some completed with families moved in and some under construction.

While Service Wire doesn’t typically sell to the residential market, they donated Service Entrance (SER) cable, which connects the mast pole to the meter base to the breaker box. They also donated Tray Cable to hook up the breaker boxes to the heat pump or furnace, as well as to the hot water tanks in the houses.

Derek Jones, Service Wire Sales Representative, was involved in the donation. Last week, he made a trip to the site where the wire was being installed. There, he met Bill (Tiny) Hernshaw, Construction Supervisor for Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam. Tiny has been overseeing the construction of homes for Habitat for 18 years. His 100th house is next door to the house where Derek was seeing the wire installed.

Tiny told Derek “We are so blessed for these donations. The quality of the wire Service Wire donates is far superior to what we could afford to buy, which would be aluminum. Copper Wire is the best!”

Tiny introduced Derek to Bill Frame and Mike Abernathy, who were working to install the wire. Both are retired, but maintain their Master Electrician Certifications so they can donate their time, working alongside other volunteers.

Derek knew that donating this wire was charitable thing for the Company to do, but said that actually seeing the wire put to use in homes for families was an eye-opening experience. “By donating this wire, Service Wire is helping others to build a community. That makes me feel good about working for this organization.”

To expand on the partnership, Service Wire is currently organizing a Team Build Day for employees to work together at a build site.

You work hard to accumulate assets throughout your life, but without a valid will or trust at your death, your assets are distributed according to state law. Wouldn’t you rather determine that yourself? Although many people think of a will as the easiest way to transfer assets after their lifetime, it doesn’t cover everything. In fact, retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance and insurance annuities are not controlled by the terms of your will, but instead use separate beneficiary paperwork to determine who receives them.

Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam’s Legacy Society was founded to create new opportunities for you to give, and to preserve our future through planned gifts.

Our Legacy Society adviser will help you and your family understand your beneficiary paperwork, and help you maximize your long-term impact in our community. By planning ahead — whether in the form of a bequest, annuity, or other planned giving arrangement — you automatically become a member of Habitat for Humanity’s Legacy Society. The reasons that people are joining our Legacy Society are as varied as the members themselves, but perhaps one common denominator is a sincere desire to give back to their community. Other advantages include:

It’s revocable. With a bequest, you are not actually making a gift until your death. Until then, you are free to alter your plans, eliminating the worry that you might make a commitment you could later regret.

If you are considering a gift to charity after your lifetime, it is usually better to leave nontaxable assets such as stocks and real estate to your loved ones and the taxable assets such as retirement accounts and IRAs to tax-exempt charitable organizations.

Example:Dan would like to leave our organization his $100,000 IRA after his death. If he names us as the beneficiary for 100 percent of his IRA, we would receive the entire $100,000 to help fulfill our mission. By comparison, if Dan leaves the IRA to his sister, she will owe a sizable amount of the IRA to income taxes.

Your beneficiary designations can be modified at any time to meet your changing needs. However, your assets may never reach your intended recipients if you’ve failed to keep all of your beneficiary designations up to date. We suggest reviewing them every two to three years to make sure your wishes are up to date.

Habitat’s Legacy Society adviser is happy to work with you and your professional advisers to determine how your investments can better our community for generations to come. Your beneficiary designations trump your will when it comes to passing along your assets at your death, making beneficiary designations effective and easy ways to leave a legacy.

If you would like more information, or to schedule a meeting with Habitat for Humanity’s Legacy Society Adviser, please complete the form below.

Over two dozen youth volunteers from Chicago’s Saint Michael Parish are in Charleston, West Virginia this week to help Habitat for Humanity homebuyers build their future homes. The volunteer group will be in town until Friday, June 15th. They are staying at the bunk quarters at Bream Presbyterian Church. This is the 21st year that the St. Michael’s youth ministry has organized a mission trip to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam.

21 teens and four adults will be working at Habitat’s Charleston construction site at 847 North Hills Drive. Each day, Habitat’s construction supervisor, Bill “Tiny” Hanshaw, will present the group with several job duties such as landscaping, digging and installing drainage ditches, and moving dirt to fill in a homebuyer’s crawl space foundation. The group will be working from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. each day, and then they’ll have the chance to explore Charleston. Nightly activities for the youth group include local dinners, a movie night and a trip to Cato pool. On Friday, the group plans to attend Live on the Levee before returning to Illinois.

Bill Ward and Rose Koch have been organizing and supervising St. Michael annual mission trip for 21 years. Ward says that it’s a very popular event for their church. “We always try to open this up to new kids, but this year we have about a half-dozen returning volunteers, and many of them are siblings,” says Ward.

Over the last two decades, St. Michael’s has sent hundreds of volunteers to Charleston to partner with Habitat for Humanity. The theme for this year’s annual trip is “Faith Can Move Mountains.” St. Michael’s youth ministry says its goal is to be the change that they wish to see in the world, and members of the volunteer group say that this is their chance to put their faith into action.

Mai Martino, an annual youth volunteer says, “I’ve been volunteering for four years now. It’s nice to help other people, and I just fell in love with it and have been coming back every year.”

St. Michael’s youth ministry held a car wash in May to fund their trip. The group raised almost $900 to fund their week in Charleston. Parents and other members of the church also donated money to fund meals and transportation.

It’s time to get motivated after spending the winter in a more restful state. As cold March days give way to mild April nights, more and more people are turning to home projects to break out of their winter hibernation. Spring cleaning is the most common, and easiest, thing you can do now as the weather still warms up. No one really looks forward to spring cleaning, but it helps to think about the final result: a clean and fresh house!

You may feel unsure where to start, but get your spring cleaning started by removing the clutter from your home. It’s as simple as taking stock of what you have and haven’t used lately. Outside of seasonal items, anything that you haven’t used in the last year is probably a safe bet to donate.

Divide your household items into separate piles with “keep”, “toss out”, and “donate” labels to make sure nothing is done away with improperly. It may seem hard at first, but once you get started it you’ll likely be surprised at how much you really don’t need.

Don’t just toss all of your unwanted belongings in the trash. Remember that “donate” pile. A lot of the items that have accumulated in your home are probably still in good shape and could be used by someone else. You can donate your gently used furniture to Habitat for HumanityReStores. Most ReStores can arrange pickup for large items that won’t fit into your car. They also accept things like light fixtures, lumber, sinks, toilets, bathtubs and home goods.

ReStore Approved Donations Include

Appliances

Antiques

Architectural Items

Framed Art and Mirrors

Cabinets and Countertops

Doors and Windows

Electrical

File Cabinets

Flooring

Furniture (home and office)

Hardware

Home Decorations

Don’t let the fear of possibly needing an item scare you into keeping things you don’t need—repurpose it so someone else can enjoy it. Donate your items and make a difference for people in your community.

Kanawha and Putnam counties are home to nearly 250,000 residents. Unfortunately, nearly one of five are suffering with the burden of substandard housing such as leaky roofs, faulty plumbing, electrical failures, inadequate heat or overcrowding. Even more are struggling with an unmanageable cost or living and raising families in fear of unsafe neighborhoods. Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam is working to change that.

Habitat helps people build homes and provides homeowner education, financial literacy training and construction training. By partnering with families, Habitat empowers communities. The non-profit mobilizes volunteers and supporters, engages corporations, foundations, churches and faith groups to get involved – whether through donations of time or money.

An Ongoing Partnership

The First Presbyterian Church of Charleston has a long-standing relationship with Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam. It has been making annual donations since 2006, and for the last few years the church has been sending out groups of 8 to 15 parishioners to spend a day on Habitat’s construction site helping Habitat partners build their homes.

This most recent grant check was presented to Habitat for Humanity’s executive director, Shawn Means. Means says that without help from the faith-based community, Habitat could not build the communities it strives to create. “We rely on partnerships to build homes. We cannot do it alone,” Means said.

After the check presentation, the church giving committee was treated to a private tour of Habitat’s administrative offices and its Charleston ReStore operation. The group of four then took a trip outside to tour Habitat’s expanding neighborhood in Charleston.

During the tour, William Andreas, development director for Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam, explained to representatives from the church how Habitat is able to build homes and sell them to Habitat partners at a zero-interest mortgage. “Habitat mortgages are affordable because we use mostly volunteer labor and some construction materials are donated,” Andreas said. He added, “Each payment is then reinvested into our construction fund to build more homes.”

Habitat is expecting The First Presbyterian Church of Charleston to continue their partnership this build season. Right now, Habitat is in the process of working to organize a large group build day made up of church congregations, Habitat homebuyers and other community members. A date has not been set.

Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha & Putnam has a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We believe in this vision because we know shelter is about more than four walls and a roof. A safe, secure, adequate, affordable home changes lives. A home helps people stay healthier. Having a place to call home helps children do better in school. A home helps people feel safe and secure. A home helps families achieve financial stability and reach for new opportunities. A home helps break the relentless cycle of poverty.

Habitat works toward our vision in multiple ways. We help people build homes and provide homeowner education, financial literacy training and construction training. By partnering with families, we are empowering communities. We work to mobilize volunteers and supporters, engage corporations, foundations, governments, churches and faith groups to get involved.

Your Donations at Work

At this very moment in Kanawha and Putnam counties, Habitat volunteers, supporters and families are building homes, communities and hope. We have helped hundreds of people afford a decent home. What we are really building is a world every family and every child has a chance for a better tomorrow.

This is where you come in! Help us build that world. We invite you make an investment into your community.

Habitat Stories

Non-Proselytizing Policy

Habitat for Humanity Non-Proselytizing Policy Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliated organizations (HFH) will not proselytize. Nor will HFH work with entities or individuals who insist on proselytizing as part of their work with HFH. This means that HFH will not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must (i) adhere to or convert to a particular faith or (ii) listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.